Driving in Ireland

alix · Member

Driving in Ireland

Michele Erdvig · Host

Alix,

Have you read my Car Rentals and Driving page?

There are currently several motorways that criss cross the country. Some of them are toll roads and you can make pretty good time on the divided highways. Once of them you are onto small winding roads. There are a lot of roundabouts in Ireland. They flow toward the left or clockwise. Yield to the traffic in the circle!

No turns on red.

If you want to avoid Cork City it is possible but not probable. I often liken Cork to a black hole that sucks you in and won't let go. The reason? All the signs point you into the city and one-way street systems make it impossible to turn around untill you reach the city center. If it is only Blarney you want to see, choose your route carefully and you can avoid Cork City.

Michele

tony2phones · Guru

Blarney is a few miles north of Cork so how much of the city you would hit depends on where you are coming from and going too. Galway can be difficult again though a lot depends on direction and time and Killarney is not so bad traffic wise. Irish drivers on a whole are a mild mannered bunch and fairly forgiving so don't worry yourself, an annoying trait you might find is that feeling that the car behind is on a tow rope, just ignore them if they want to pass they will find somewhere to do it.

There is a lot more to Blarney than just hanging over a 100ft drop to snog a rock, the grounds are wonderful with some rare fauna and nice walks. Call into the woollen mills (now the hotel and gift shop), makes for some interesting window shopping. When my cousin moved over to the Canadian suburbs about 30 years ago I thought he was having a laff with his 12miles to the nearest pub, I have a pub 200yrds away but have to go 15 miles to the nearest chip shop.

Usefull link for roundabouts and other poins of driving in Ireland.

http://www.drivingschoolireland.com/roundabouts.html

-- Edited by tony2phones on Thursday 14th of April 2011 02:33:22 AM

GrammyAmy · Veteran Member

I was also wondering about driving. We paid for the GPS, does anyone know how reliable they are? Should we bring our Michelin map blown-up copies as well? Should I pre-plan our routes, or just plug in the next day's destinations with the GPS? Thoughts?

Monty · Senior Member

We have never used a GPS there, but if that makes you feel more secure, what the heck. Basically if you have a good map -- and know how to read it (or better yet have a navigator in the car reading it), you will do fine.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Amy,

The GPS is only as good and up-to-date as the software in it. How you program it, will also determine how good it is. Don't abandon maps and depend entirely on the GPS or you could find yourself in some interesting places - that you don't want to be!

Michele

tony2phones · Guru

We (our townland) no longer exists on Google maps and many updated satnav/gps maps and I don't for one minute think we will be alone. New roads have been added but the network is still developing so don't be surprised if if even the most up to date software gets confused.

EngagingKate · Senior Member

Amy,

We have a Garmin Nuvi GPS unit that we use on our trips to Ireland. But we also take a Michelin map. We don't generally pre-program the unit to take us to and from places. We look on the Michelin map to figure out where we need to go and then follow along on the GPS map to make sure we're still on track.

Admittedly, we tend to use the GPS mainly for getting back to someplace we recognize after we get lost... It has saved us several times in cities when we miss a turn or need to find our way to a particular route. When we're in the country, we generally don't mind getting lost. wink

Roy · Guru

I've not used a GPS in Ireland, and will continue holding off as long as my wife continues to provide good navigation.

xaviermatt · Member

Where do you suggest I get a good road map? Should I get one in the US or pick one up when we arrive in Dublin?

Thanks!

Roy · Guru

There are many good opinions on the topic of road maps. I use Collins Ireland, which is spiral bound. I purchsed though amazon.com.

alix · Member

I think we'll go with both a good road map and the GPS. I noticed some places give the coordinates on their web site so it can't hurt to program them in advance. Last year we were in Toronto and used our GPS to mark the coordinates for the car park. Had no problem finding our car at the end of the night!

Now here's a silly question. How does a toll road work?

Michele Erdvig · Host

Alix,

All the toll roads in Ireland (with the exception of the M50) has toll booths. You can go to a manned booth if you need change or a receipt. If you have exact change you can go through one where you throw the money in the machine.

For info on the M50 (near Dublin) go to my Hot News page for exact instructions on how it works.

Michele

murphy · Guru

As for toll roads, or rental car agreement said that the m50 toll would be already paid by Hertz, so we didn't have to worry about that. If I wouldn't have asked the desk agent, I wouldn't have known. However we did travel thru 2 other tolls, one being the Shannon Tunnel. We stopped at a Petrol station to inquire about the amount due and to get the exact change, since we didn't know if it would be manned late on a Sat afternoon. Like Michele said, you had the option of a manned booth, or dropping the exact change in a basket. By the way, we loved the Shannon Tunnel! What a time saver for only 1.80 Euro! Dan

-- Edited by murphy on Sunday 17th of April 2011 08:16:16 PM

tony2phones · Guru

Perhaps not for the faint Hearted but this 3 minute offering from Tom Flanigan is a fair example of driving around rural Ireland, speeded up by timelapsed video.

http://vimeo.com/21073302